Photo by Hisu lee on Unsplash
You probably got into photography because you’re a great artist with a keen eye for what makes a beautiful photo.
What you might not be so good at is the business side of things. I know from personal experience that I was confident behind the lens, but not so much doing things like marketing.
But marketing is the lifeblood of your business. If you can’t effectively put your brand out there in front of potential customers, it will be hard to get clients.
With that in mind, here are three effective marketing tips for wedding photographers that will help you expand your business.
Offer Premium Products
Offering high-end products helps your clients associate your brand with beautiful, high-quality, durable items they can cherish forever. The 8x8” Journal ArtBook shown above is just one option you have for marketing your work in a gorgeous, finely-crafted package.
It is critical that you put your best foot forward with your photos. And that goes not just for the actual photos you take, but how you present them as well.
The images you take of a wedding will be viewed and shared with family and friends far and wide. That’s a prime opportunity to show off your photos in a beautiful way.
Choosing premium products as a vessel for marketing your photography is one of the best things you can do to expand your business.
And I know what you’re thinking…
“Premium” means expensive. Fortunately, that’s not always the case.
When I went to WPPI in February, I had a chance to meet the folks from QT Albums.
In addition to them being incredibly friendly, down-to-earth people that are passionate about what they do, they have an impressive line of premium products for photographers.
I was particularly impressed with their AriaBook line of photo albums.
As you can see above, this photo album is visually impressive with a gorgeous finish that is sure to leave your clients breathless.
You can customize the album to your client’s wishes with the great variety of cover options and personalizations, range of sizes from 6 x 6 inches to 12 x 18 inches, and choice of Fuji lustre or silk prints bound in slim, standard, or thick pages.
What struck me most about these albums is the incredible dynamic range. The photos jump off the page with lovely colors and contrast.
These albums look and feel like heirloom pieces - something that will last for generations. That’s simply not the case with bargain photo albums that you can get from other websites.
Best of all, you get that premium quality without paying steep prices. There’s plenty of room for you to mark up the price on these products and still make a good profit, plus studio samples are 50% off so you can show clients an example of what they can expect from you. It’s a win-win!
The products you recommend to your clients are essentially a representation of your business, so when you’re putting your work out there, make sure the companies you work with offer you the level of quality that your photos deserve. QT Albums certainly fits that mold!
Start a YouTube Channel
Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash
Social media is king when it comes to marketing in the digital age, and YouTube is at the top of the heap.
Second only to Google, YouTube is the largest search engine in the world. In 2019, it was estimated that YouTube had two billion monthly users that streamed 250 million hours of video each day.
Needless to say, that’s a huge audience that you can reach by starting a YouTube channel.
Granted, not everyone is going to amass millions of followers, but even if you have a couple of hundred followers, you’ve got a good-sized audience that you can share things with.
Photo by Andreas Rønningen on Unsplash
Do behind-the-scenes videos that shows everything you do on a wedding day. Share a tutorial for taking beautiful portraits of a bride. Talk about the things you do to capture candid moments at receptions. The ideas are endless!
Think of YouTube as your chance to share some organic content. Things like how-to stuff and tutorials as opposed to sales messages, that demonstrate your expertise as a photographer. After all, the more you can show people you know what you’re doing, the more likely they will be to hire you!
Besides, YouTube can be used as a means to supplement your income. If you can monetize your channel, you can diversify your revenue stream, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that!
Step Up Your SEO
Photo by Merakist on Unsplash
Let’s face it - when someone needs to find a photographer online, they go to Google and type in “photographers near me” or something of the sort.
That means that you need to have your SEO on point so when searches are made for photographers in your area, your name is at the top of the list.
Learning the ins and outs of SEO optimization is something that will take time, but it will be well worth your time to do it.
This resource will guide you along, or if you’re a beginner, these tips will be helpful.
Photo by Webaroo on Unsplash
I know that optimizing SEO might not be the sexiest topic, but trust me when I say that when it comes to marketing for photographers, it’s one of the best things you can do.
You need a strong web presence with a beautiful website that’s easy to navigate. You need to have curated content on your site as well - a monthly blog post or two will do wonders for your page rankings.
The content you share needs to be timely, useful, and valuable. It needs to be sharable too.
Marketing your business is all about ensuring that your brand cuts through all the noise of your competitors and increasing the total number of clicks, impressions, and boosting the click through rate to your site. By focusing on SEO, you will be better equipped for that to happen!